Fears are growing for Daniel Scott, 12, who went missing from his Hexham home at about 6.30pm yesterday.

Police appealed for the boy, or anyone who knows of his whereabouts, to end worries for his safety and get in touch.

Daniel is 5ft 3in, stocky and has light ginger hair.

When he left home he was wearing black tracksuit bottoms and a navy-blue hooded top with the word ACE on the back. He was also wearing a light-blue Berghaus jacket and beige hiking boots.

It is believed he has headed for Newcastle or Carlisle.

Talked down

POLICE talked down to safety a man who threatened to leap from the High Level Bridge over the Tyne. The unnamed man, in his late twenties was taken to Newcastle General Hospital.

Kitchen blaze

THREE people suffered smoke inhalation yesterday after a chip pan fire in a flat in Shieldfield House, Shieldfield.

Fire in roof

NEIGHBOURS had to flee their homes when a fire broke out in the roof of an adjoining house. The blaze started yesterday in the loft space of an unoccupied house in The Oaks, Esh Winning, County Durham.

Poaching curb

SALMON poaching activity on the River Tweed dropped again last year. A total of 22 suspected poachers were reported for prosecution, with 165 illegal nets and eight dinghies recovered from the river by bailiffs.

Sport award

STUDENTS and staff at Seaton Hirst Church of England Middle School, Ashington, is one of 100 in the country to win the Sport England Activemark gold award. The programme encourages young people to take an active part in sport.

Prices soar

HOUSE prices in the North East led a new surge in the national property market.

New figures reveal prices soared by 26.7% in this region in the past 12 months, compared with 9.7% across the UK.